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Noob Needs Help..

Imagine that right?

I have been working on art using sliverware welding and getting great results.

Today I found a piece of thin sheet metal that I drew butterfly wings on , tin snipped them out, then I was going to tack them to a spark plug (for the body) I set my speed at 1, my amperage about 20-25 (anything lower I popped).. but at this amp I was burning through.. I got into a habit of 2 second bursts, is that maybe too long? Any ideas or is MIG not designed for this? I have Oxyacetylene but I don't really know how to use it-hubby bought it years ago and we both are way too uninformed about it and intimidated..

What size wire are you using? I make silverware art too and found using .024 wire or smaller diameter wire worked best. Oxyacetylene would char the ceramic part of the spark plug. Try using stainless strips instead of steel to weld onto the plug. focus the puddle on the thickest section and let it "wash" up to the thinner piece. If you want to see some of my stuff let me know. Some of my stuff is copied, some is inspired. Hope this helps.

May I suggest that you look into acquiring a tig machine. It appears to me that it would suit your requirements to a "T", and open up new vistas for the application of your artistic talents.

My hubby purchase the Mig and the OxyA years ago but really hasn't used it.. just recently I was motivated to learn it because I wanted to make some items to cheer up my mother who is going through chemo. I love crafting but I am impatient and like projects that come together quickly.. Welding seemed like a good choice. So I started watching vids and actually was able to teach my hubby a thing or two. haha I am on week three and my welds are getting better.. but there is just no budget for a tig right now... LOL

What size wire are you using? I make silverware art too and found using .024 wire or smaller diameter wire worked best. Oxyacetylene would char the ceramic part of the spark plug. Try using stainless strips instead of steel to weld onto the plug. focus the puddle on the thickest section and let it "wash" up to the thinner piece. If you want to see some of my stuff let me know. Some of my stuff is copied, some is inspired. Hope this helps.

I am using the .024 for the silverware and it works fantastic.. however the project I was trying was very thin sheet metal to the metal on the spark plug. I have not had a problem doing silverware onto a spark plug... but this sheet metal just blows through at my very lowest settings..... So for this particular project I am using the Mig Hobart 125 with C25.. I brought my settings down to 1 for wire speed, and about 20-25.. where I could get a decent sizzle.. any lower I got pop pop pop.lol I got a couple shorter length zaps to hold so I think maybe that could be a clue too. Although I am trying to find ideas on brazing for these thin metals... but I can't seem to find anything on anything other than OxyA.. I have mapp gas and propane at my disposal (and of course the Oxyacetylene) Basically I want to make these garden art pieces but most definitely want them to work and look decent.. lol

That's not your amperage setting that's your voltage. And on the setting is it a scale from 0-100 or an actual voltage setting or digital read out?

You got me confused.. I have Hobart 125 My wire speed is knobs that are Fan and 1-4 and my other (that I thought was amps) are I think starting 20-100(at least I think that is the numbers printed on it, it's in the garage, i'm in the house right now). No digital read out. The welder is about 6 years old. I am using .024 wire and C25 gas.

Noob Needs Help..

I tried tigging on some spark plugs for some art and it constantly fumed up onto my tungsten from the material the plug is made of, which is why I stuck with mig. I weld stainless silverware pieces onto the plugs which the stainless melting point was better than steel so it took the heat better than carbon steel pieces. Clear coat protects from corrosion. It's just recycled art and mig welding two different types of steels is fine in this application. Plus, tig takes longer, and since I was selling my stuff, time is money.